[Festival Spotlight] Somersault 2014

Devon’s Castle Hill Estate is playing host to a new Festival in 2014 and with exciting headliners already announced and a heap of talent still yet to be unveiled, it is promising to be a great first year. Somersault Festival is the name of the affair and its inauguration will see lovers of both music and the outdoors flock to the deep green surroundings of Castle Hill, where five days of activities and games will accompany an extensive musical line up, with mainstream performers playing mainly on the weekend from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th July. Music however will be heard across the whole five days of the festival which as a whole will be providing plenty of laughs and lasting memories.

Set around the quaint, bright yellow Palladian house that centres Castle Hill Estate, Somersault Festival’s visitors will be able to experience first hand the beauty of its surrounding areas. With immaculately kept gardens, rolling hills and a scattering of trees, there will be 50 acres of fun to be had. Built in 1730, and now home to the original families descendants, Castle Hill holds many buildings, temples and statues built by each of the families generations, adding historic texture to all corners of the festival site.

The line up that is set to take to this luscious landscape features two impressive headliners in the form of surf folk stars Jack Johnson and Ben Howard. Jack Johnson who hails from Hawaii has been playing guitar since he was 14 and has produced some of the most well known acoustic tracks of the last decade such as his singles ‘Sitting, Waiting, Wishing’ and ‘Better Together’. Being an avid surfer and the creator of several surfing movies and soundtracks, Johnson’s style carries an innately tropical sound that is built on with heartfelt lyrics brought out through his distinctly recognisable voice. Having been nominated for two Grammy Awards and being the winner of several other accolades including a BRIT Award for ‘Best Breakthrough Artist’ and ESPN Music Awards amongst others, he a musician who is acclaimed by critics and his many fans.

Ben Howard is a singer who from the age of 8 was a Devon citizen and growing up with his musical parents he learnt to play the guitar and also began to write his own songs from an early age. Since growing in popularity all over the country Ben has gone on to embark on several sell out tours around Europe and released music that has come with many large-scale festival performances including an appearance on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2013. Notable tracks from the local include the hits ‘Keep Your Head Up’ and ‘Only Love’ that received heavy radio support as well as contributing towards Ben’s nomination for a Mercury Music Prize and other awards such as the 2 BRIT Awards, which he won.

Other distinguished performers who are appearing across the three days of the festival include Dan Croll, who’s single ‘From Nowhere’ has been sweeping the nation, the Platinum selling space rock band Spiritualized and the Grammy nominated duo from Mali Amadou & Mariam as well as Half Moon Run, Bombino, Marcus Foster, Nick Mulvey and Dry The River amongst many others. Across the whole five days aside from the main performances there will stages hosted by London music label ‘Communion, Jack Wills who are presenting a ‘New Music Stage’, Bearded Kitten and the team behind Love Saves The Day Festival, who are curating 3 nights of forest parties.

Music is not where the excitement stops, as there will also be a number of long table feasts, cooked for you by reputable companies such as The Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, The Ethicurean and Fifteen Cornwall Pitt Cue Co. to name just a few.

Wild Wellbeing will see a riverside retreat where festivalgoers can indulge in massage therapies or take part in yoga and fitness exercises. There will even be circus and theatre performances, flying trapeze lessons, tea parties and also a kids camp for the youngest festival enthusiasts.

Somersault Festival Tickets are available form Ticket Arena and can be purchased as day tickets or for the full weekend. There are also young persons and child tickets available. To purchase Somersault Festival Tickets click here.